NASA's Infrared Explorer Spots a Room-Temperature Brown Dwarf, the Coldest Star Ever Found
Y Dwarf Y dwarfs are the coldest star-like bodies known, with temperatures that can be even cooler than the human body. NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer just found them for the first time. NASA/JPL-CaltechIt's one of the closest stars we've seen, but it's so cool we didn't notice it before Using NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer telescope, astronomers have finally spotted a collection of ultra-cool brown dwarfs they have been hunting for more than a decade. These tepid almost-star orbs are nearly impossible to see with a normal telescope, but WISE's infrared vision was able to pick them out. The coldest one ever found is about room temperature, with a reading of less than 80 degrees. That brown dwarf, a Y-class dwarf called WISE 1828+2650, is the green dot in the image below. Brown dwarfs, sometimes called failed stars, got their name because astronomers didn't know what color they would have in the...